What is a smoked dash?? Back in the mid 50's they were all the rage in hot rods and customs in this area. Window garnish moldings were also done. The dash was painted white and smoke from a candle or torch was applied to it in an artful pattern. It took someone with good imagination and skill to make up the most Kool pattern. I have not seen this done in many years. POST A PIC!......................MO
At first I thought you burned up your wiring under the dash or something. I've never heard of such a thing. Looking forward to seeing some pictures.
My dad did that on his 50 Chevy truck. Said he took a hose and set it on fire, but it was still being done in Illinois, in the early 70's. I was little when he had the truck, and unfortunately I don't have any pics
I'm assuming some kind of clear sealer coat has to go over this or it would just wipe off easily. I'm with Saxman on this, at first I thought you had some bad wiring-that's the only kind of smoked dash I ever saw.
In the pic from "The Stig" above here, that is way more smoke than the best ones I have seen . Back in the day, the smoke was applied while the white paint was wet. I don't think there was such a thing as sealer or clear-coat back then. I was pretty young, so I don't know how durable it was in the long term.........................MO
We did this a lot on bikes and I think I did a guitar body or two. Typically in a panel or a stripe area. I just used a acetylene torch without adding any oxygen to it. There is no prep to the panel before hand. You just have your finish color down, apply the smoke job to it. Then clear with whatever clear you typically would use. I have recently picked up the guns again and this is one of the techniQues I wanted to do again. I have to repair a steering wheel that is black on top and white on the bottom, and I was thinking of doing the white part like your example. I would then add some white pearl to the clear for a little added effect. I have never seen a whole dash done like that before. Thanks for digging that up!
Back during the van craze guys did the acetylene with no oxygen trick on brown paint to simulate wood grain, then lots of clear. Worked well, as I remember.
i saw that on an episode of biker build off,,(think it was the dude from AMEN?)..looked crapy when he did it
Me and a buddy did our Schwinn bike frames back in the mid 70's, his red and mine yellow. We painted them with spray paint, smoked them with the torch and then cleared. The spray paint and clear back then was MUCH better than today, man we were cool. It's no different than panel or lace, just a style of the time.
Very interesting...and amusing. A few years ago, a friend of mine mentioned this technique in a random conversation. I laughed and kinda gave him a hard time as I had never seen nor heard of this customizing practice. Lo and behold, a few weeks later I see a '34 Ford Coupe on the auction site from California with a very well done "smoked" dash. Needless to say, I had to eat some humble pie when I next spoke with my buddy and explained to him that he really did know what he was talking about........Don.
I just thought I'd add a note about the wet paint part of the technique. I never did it that way. The paint was either recently sprayed, or as in the bicycle example, I would just degrease the original paintwork, scrub it down with a scotch bright pad, apply the smoke in a pleasing pattern and then clear. The only reason I can think of to apply it to wet paint is to set it. The sharp detail could possibly blur if your paint was too wet. The last time I used this technique I was still doing all my custom painting with lacquers. My recent attempts with current paints haven't proven to be much of a change in technique.
Anyone have more examples of well done pieces? I can see the potential in my mind but would like to see some real nice examples - at this point I'm not sold on it. Neat idea though.
I just about forgot about this style. A buddy of mine did his shoe box dash and garnish moldings in white and smoke. It was quite original, I tried on a garnish molding of my 33 chevy and couldn't get the hang of it, not as easy as it looks. Thanx for the memories. Old school cool! ~sololobo~
I remember doing this in the late 50's on our pushbikes. We did it with a candle on the wet paint and the soot from the candle smoke kind of etched into the wet paint. There was no need to clear over it. I don't remember clear being around in those days.
Here is some I did on a mailbox. I think it has potential. Sprayed my base, and let it dry, then acetylene smoke. Then Kandy. Then Clear. Sorry for the awful pictures...and the awful mailbox!
It was popular in the panel painting fad for the van craze along with spider webbing in the early 70s. A sooty OA flame was aimed at the paint long after it was dry. Then it was cleared trapping the soot. Everyone was experimenting with different ways to fill panels before they were cleared and rubbed out. I never liked it. Of course I didn't like vans or panel painting.
I've heard of the acetylene smoke trick before , done on garnish moldings & stuff . The whole dash & steering wheel looks cool , but maybe a bit much for my taste . The mailbox looks like a cool way to experiment - good job !
did one on a 53 ford custom in the 90's for a guy but didn't get any pic's. they actually look great and easy to do. at the time i thought he was nuts until it was done. but i guess he was ahead of his time or vice versa?
Smoke looks cool if done as an accent. I've seen it used as an effect in a stripe, never any large areas.
First off, you don't get that close to the paint, you just let the soot drift and the secret is to lay it on similar to a wood grain. Start at one end and lay a wavy line, like a wood grain, and then come back lay another a little lower and so on. Didn't clear in the old days, but now it is the best way to get the real gloss.
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